FAQ
Order, Production and Shipping
How easy is it to order prints online?
What is the job status?
What is the shipping status?
How do I pay?
Do I have to remember another password?
What is the suggested minimum order volume?
Could my prints be laminated further? (What kind of the surface treatments I can choose for my prints?)
What kinds of proofing do you offer?
Paper Stocks
What are your common paper stocks?
How is paper weight measured?
How can I convert International paper weight to English weight?
How can I convert English paper weight to International weight?
How is paper thickness measured?
How is paper size measured?
Is the paper measurement system confusing?
Mailing Services
How could I use your mailing service?
Could you tab my prints?
Graphics
What file types do you accept?
How do I send in large files?
How can I prepare art work properly for perfect binding?
How do I estimate the percentage of printing area?
How do I know the number of colors of my graphic design?
What are bleeds?
Shopping Bags
What kind of shopping bags are best suited to my business?
Non-Woven Fabric Bag
How do I choose a non-woven fabric weight?
What color(s) of non-woven fabric do I choose for my bag?
Can my non-woven fabric bag have a closure?
Plastic Film Stocks
How is the thickness of plastic film measured?
How easy is it to order prints online?
OooLa Printing offers the best web site for you to order and manage your printing needs easily online. It is a three-step process. We give you power to manage your job yourself online. After you requested a quote online, we will email you a personal URL specifically for you to view quotes. From your personal quote page, place an order is just a few click away. You could upload files, view job status, and approve or disapprove proof, and more. It is easy and powerful for you to manage your job. Buying prints from OooLa Printing should be a pleasant experience: easy to quote and order, saving time and money, staying under control, and friendly customer services from our staff.
What is the job status?
You will be notified the job progress as the job status is updated. Each status is described in the following table.
| Status |
Description |
| Waiting for Files |
This is the initial status right after you have placed an order. |
| Files under Our Review |
We have received your art files. Our prepress staff is working on your files. After our reviewing your files, we may contact you to modify your files if necessary. |
| Working on Proof |
After we have reviewed all your graphic files, we are producing proof for you if proofing is required. The proof could be e-proof, color proof or press proof. |
| Proof to Be Verified |
We have sent you the proof. We are awaiting your action to approve or disapprove the proof. |
| Proof Approved |
You have approved the proof. You can do so online at the bottom of job status page by clicking the button "Approve Proof". We may not print your job until you have approved the proof.. |
| Proof Disapproved |
You have disapproved the proof. You can do so online at the bottom of job status page by clicking the button "Disapprove Proof". We will not print your job. We may contact you for the next step. A second proofing may be needed. |
| In Printing |
Your job is in printing and binding stage. |
| Mailing Service |
We are working on your mailing service if this is a part of the job. |
| To Be Shipped |
We have finished producing your products and they have been packed. |
| Shipped |
Your cargo has been shipped out. It has left our factory and be on way to its delivery. You will be notified with the shipping progress as the shipping status changes. |
| Customer Feedback |
After the customer has received the prints, a feedback about his or her job is solicited on behalf of OooLa Printing. The feedback is very important for us to improve the quality of service to sever you better in the future. |
| Closed |
The job has been completed. |
| Cancelled |
The job has been cancelled before it is completed. |
A job may not go through all above statuses. For example, an exact re-order of previous job may don't need the proofing stages.
What is the shipping status?
You will be notified the shipping progress as the shipping status is updated. Each status is described in the following table.
| Shipping Status |
Description |
| Open |
This is the initial status of a shipment. |
| Left Factory |
The cargo has left our factory. It could be moved to a warehouse at departing port waiting for customs clearance, or picked up by an express courier, depending on the shipping method. |
| Left Dept Port |
The cargo has left departing port in Ningbo, China for the destination port in your country. |
| Arrived Dest Port |
The cargo has arrived at the destination port in your country, waiting for customs clearance and picking up. |
| Left Dest Port |
The cargo has left the destination port and on the way to your delivery address. |
| Delivered |
You or your client has received the cargo. |
| Closed |
This shipment has been completed. |
| Cancelled |
This shipment has been cancelled. |
A shipment may not go through all above statuses. For example, a air shipping from door to door may not need Left Dept Port, Arrived Dest Port or Left Dest Port.
How do I pay
?
You can pay by credit cards, PayPal, telegraphic transfer (wire) or letter of credit. Please refer to Payment Method.
Do I have to remember another password?
No. You don't have to create another password and to remember it. All you need is your email address to request quotes, place an order and even pay your prints online. We use personal URL for you to manage each of your jobs easily. Since only you know the encrypted URL address for each job, only you can manage your jobs and files. We even don't see or store your important financial information such as credit cards numbers that are handled by PayPal secure payment system. So it is also safe.
What is the suggested minimum order volume?
To save up to 50% of printing cost, you are suggested to order one cubic meter of printed mattrs (volume equivalent to a cube of 3.3’ x 3.3’ x 3.3’) for each shipment. The international shipping fee per copy of printed paper will increase considerably if the shipping volume is smaller than one cubic meter because of the international shipping rate is based on minimum volume of one cubic meter.
For your better estimation, one cubic meter of printed mattrs will hold 70,000 copies of 8-1/2” x 11” or A4 flyers printed on 100# text or 157gsm paper. Using flyers as reference, we could estimate that there will be 2500 copies of 56 page calendars (28 sheets) per one cubic meter if the size and paper kept the same.
You may combine several prints together to have a volume of one cubic meter or more. However, you may still get considerable saving when you order less than minimum order volume with us. Please quote your job online.
Could my prints be laminated further? (What kind of the surface treatments I can choose for my prints?)
A printed piece is coated for two reasons: 1) protection; 2) adding vibrant colors and depth.
You may laminate the printed sides by adding liquid oil (liquid), a thin plastic film layer (film) or UV ink (UV) on the surface.
A glossy liquid lamination adds scuff-resistance. It is great to give that "rich" feel to your gloss piece, and to protect it in the mail. A dull liquid lamination adds more artistic effects on your glossy paper.
As an option to liquid lamination, a thin layer of plastic film could be applied, which not only yields better visual results than liquid coating, but also make the paper stiffer and more enduring.
Liquid or film coating must be applied to the whole piece. UV coating is actually printed on the surface using special clear ink that is dried by UV light. You can “spot” coating the printed surface. For example, you could just UV coating company name and logo to make them shiny and standing out. Or you may leave some space uncoated for writing. UV coating is always shiny.
Liquid, film or UV coating is often used on the front and back covers of brochures, catalogs, calendars, cards, flyers, labels or the outsides of folders, paper packaging.
What kinds of proofing do you offer?
We offer both e-proofing and hard proofing. Electronic proof (e-proof) is free. We will upload or send you the plate images for your verification before we produce them.
We offer three types of hard proofing: color proof, Epson proof, and press proof.
Color proof will be digital color printout. They are not bound. You can not choose your paper (it is special paper for Epson digital color proofer). They are used to verify the colors before final production.
Epson proof will be digital color or b/w printout, too. But they will be printed on the same paper as the final products, and they will be bound as the final prints plus post-press treament such as gloss film lamination. Using the Epson hard proof, you will receive a hard copy similar to the final product. The only difference is that the ink is put on by a digital Epson printer, not a press machine. Epson hard proof is more expensive than Epson color proof.
Press proof is much more expensive. We will make actual films/plates and print on the same paper as the final products. They will be bound as the final prints. The process and materials will be identical to the final production except that we may use a smaller press or special proofing press to put the ink on the stock at the proofing stage.
You may select representative pages to be proofed to save money while ensuring the final products will meet your expectation. For example, if you are printing a 200-page catalog, you may request press proofing of 4 cover pages plus 16 inside pages, i.e. 20 pages. The rest could be dummy blank pages. We usually only provide one copy of hard proof unless otherwise specified.
When you place an order, you will pay the cost for the hard proof first. After you receive the hard proof, and you approve the proof, you will have to pay the whole order. We let you control the job online.
.
What are your common paper stocks?
Our commonly used paper stocks are:
Offset paper (Uncoated paper): 60gsm, 70gsm, 80gsm, 100gsm, 120gsm, 140gsm
Art paper (Coated paper): 60gsm, 80gsm, 105gsm, 128gsm, 157gsm, 210gsm, 300gsm, 350gsm.
Card paper: 220gsm, 250gsm, 280gsm, 300gsm, 350gsm, 400gsm.
(If you want to know international paper weight unit, please click here.)
Offset paper is not coated with clay on the surface. It is good for instruction booklets, newspapers, notepads, letterhead, envelopes. It is laser safe, good for color or black prints.
Art paper is coated with clay on the surface. It is good for photographic color prints. It could be glossy or matt/dull finished. It is often used for flyers, catalogs, brochures, calendars, child books.
Card paper is used for paper packaging. The front or outside is white; the back or inside could be either white or light grey.
Following are a few useful conversion charts between international paper weight method and English or British method. They will help you to get familiar with our paper stocks.
International (grams/square meter, gsm) to English weight (pounds of a ream for a basis weight category, #):
| International(g) |
English (#, lb) |
offset paper |
coated paper |
text weight |
cover weight |
60 gsm |
60 gsm |
41# |
|
70 gsm |
|
47# |
|
80 gsm |
80 gsm |
54# |
|
90 gsm |
|
61# |
|
100 gsm |
|
68# |
|
|
105 gsm |
71# |
|
120 gsm |
|
81# |
|
|
128 gsm |
86# |
|
140 gsm |
|
95# |
|
|
157 gsm |
106# |
58# |
|
210 gsm |
142# |
78# |
|
250 gsm |
169# |
92# |
|
300 gsm |
|
111# |
|
350 gsm |
|
129# |
English text weight (#, lb) to International (gsm) weight:
| English text weight |
International |
40# |
59 gsm |
50# |
74 gsm |
60# |
89 gsm |
70# |
104 gsm |
80# |
118 gsm |
90# |
133 gsm |
100# |
148 gsm |
English cover weight (#, lb) to International (gsm) weight:
| English cover weight |
International |
60# |
162 gsm |
70# |
189 gsm |
80# |
216 gsm |
90# |
243 gsm |
100# |
270 gsm |
Generally, the heavier the paper is, the thinker the paper is. 80# cover stock (216gsm) is twice as thick as 80# text paper (118gsm).
In most cases, we use the highest quality paper produced in China, which matches the quality manufactured in USA because the Chinese manufacturers actually import the paper pulps from USA. If you have special requirements about the paper source, please instruct us.
How is paper weight measured?
Most nations including United Kingdom use metric or international paper weight system except northern America. USA and Canada use English or British weight system.
International system is simpler: any paper weight is based on how many grams are per square meter per single sheet of paper. A 100gsm paper weighs 100 grams per square meter regardless of its type or purpose.
The English or British method of measurement gives the weight of the paper as if weighing 500 sheets (or a ream) of a particular basis size. Examples include "text paper," "cover paper," "bond paper" or "writing paper" to name a few of the more common paper basis weight categories. A text paper is based on the basis size 25" x 38" x 500 sheets = "x" lbs and is referred to as an "x" lb text paper. Cover paper is based on the basis size 20" x 26" x 500 sheets = "x" lbs and is referred to as an "x" lb cover paper. The 80# of cover paper is twice as thick as 80# text paper.
USA (English) Paper Basis Sizes
Categories |
Wide x Length
(inches) |
Basis Area
(square inches) |
Bond, Writing, Ledger, Manifold |
17 x 22 |
374 |
Text, Book, Bible, Offset |
25 x 38 |
950 |
Index |
25.5 x 30.5 |
778 |
Vellum Bristol |
22.5 x 28.5 |
641 |
Cover |
20 x 26 |
520 |
Poster, Tissues, Newsprint, Tag |
24 x 36 |
864 |
Manuscript |
18 x 31 |
558 |
How can I convert International paper weight to English weight?
Formula:
Basis Weight in Pounds = Grams per sq. meter x Basis Area/1406.5
Example:
100gsm offset paper is 68# offset paper or text paper (100 x 950 / 1406.5 = 68).
Free tool: paper weight conversion calculator
How can I convert English paper weight to International weight?
Formula:
Grams per square meter = Basis Weight x 1406.5 / Basis Area
Example:
80# gloss text paper is 118gsm art paper (80 x 1406.5/950 = 118).
Free tool: paper weight conversion calculator
How is paper thickness measured?
Most nations use metric unit of millimeter (mm), while USA and Britain use point to measure the thickness of a paper. The formulas are:
1 point = 1/1000 inch = 0.0254 mm (1 inch = 25.4 mm)
A paper thicker than 12 points (0.3 mm) is normally called paperboard. 100# cover paper (270gsm) is nearly 12 points (0.3 mm) in thickness.
Free tool: point to metric paper weight and thickness calculator
How is paper size measured?
The international standard paper sizes (ISO 216 system) is widely used except the northern America countries (US, Canada and in part Mexico). ISO A4 (210 x 297 mm, 8-1/4 x 11-3/4”) is the most popular internationally, which is similar in shape and size to the Letter size (8-1/2 x 11”, 216 x 279 mm) that is the most popular in US. A piece of A4 paper is a little longer and slimmer than Letter size. The total area of A4 size is only 3.5% larger than Letter size.
The beauty of ISO system is that the ratio of length over width is kept at a fixed ratio of square root of two (1.4142). When a sheet of A4 paper is cut into two equal halves, yielding two sheets of A5 (148 x 210 mm) with the same fixed ratio of length over width, i.e.square root of two (1.4142). The international standard paper sizes keep the shape unchanged when a piece of paper is half folded in series. The commonly used international paper sizes are shown in the following table with inch fraction for your easy comparison.
International Paper Sizes
ISO SIZE |
W x L (mm) |
W x L (inch) |
A0 |
841 x 1189 |
33 x 46 3/4 |
A1 |
594 x 841 |
23 3/8 x 33 |
A2 |
420 x 594 |
16 1/2 x 23 3/8 |
A3 |
297 x 420 |
11 3/4 x 16 1/2 |
A4 |
210 x 297 |
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 |
A5 |
148 x 210 |
5 7/8 x 8 1/4 |
A6 |
105 x 148 |
4 1/8 x 5 7/8 |
A7 |
74 x 105 |
2 7/8 x 4 1/8 |
B0 |
1000 x 1414 |
39 3/8 x 55 3/4 |
B1 |
707 x 1000 |
27 3/4 x 39 3/8 |
B2 |
500 x 707 |
19 3/4 x 27 3/4 |
B3 |
353 x 500 |
13 7/8 x 19 3/4 |
B4 |
250 x 353 |
9 7/8 x 13 7/8 |
B5 |
176 x 250 |
7 x 9 7/8 |
B6 |
125 x 176 |
4 7/8 x 7 |
Most Commonly Used North American Paper Sizes
| American Size |
W x L (inch) |
W x L (mm) |
Letter |
8 1/2 x 11 |
216 x 279 |
Legal |
8 1/2 x 14 |
216 x 356 |
Executive |
7 1/2 x 10 |
190 x 254 |
Ledger/Tabloid |
11 x 17 |
279 x 432 |
For detailed analysis of ISO system and the drawbacks of US paper sizes, please refer to International standard paper sizes.
Is the paper measurement system confusing?
Yes, it is. We hope that questions and answers about the papers will help you understand and select the suitable papers for your printing needs. If you have any questions, please send us an email to info@ooola.com. We will be glad to answer your questions and post them online.
A rule of thumb is as follows: a piece of A4 size, 128gsm paper is close to a sheet of Letter size, 80# text weight paper, and vice versa.
How could I use your mailing service?
When you order your prints, just specify the number of copies that you want us to address, and send us your mailing list. We will send you the addressed prints that meet your local mail office standards. We only charge a fraction of your labor cost that you may be paying for labeling addresses on your catalogs and flyers.
For US customers, we may be able to buy a mail permit for you if you have large quantity of catalogs or flyers to mail. A mail permit is tied to a local USPS office. Our shipping from Ningbo, China to Los Angeles, USA only takes 2 weeks. We could send your addressed, presorted prints directly to the post office at Los Angeles who will mail them out. By offering you a total solution to drop ship your prints, you will save additional ground shipping fees as well as time to reach your customers. Please let us know if you want us to server you better.
We can also help insert additional pieces into your mail. Just specify what we could help you.
We accept mailing list files in following format: CSV, text (comma or tab delimited), Microsoft Excel or common data base files such as Microsoft Access, SQL server, Oracle.
Could you tab my prints?
US Postal regulations require self mailers and other automated mailings (small booklets and other folded items) to be tabbed with either one or two tabs on the open edge to prevent their jamming in Postal Service equipment, and to receive the lower rates from the Postal Service.
We will automatically tab your mail materials to meet the postal regulations for those that are addressed by us. If you need separated or additional tabbing of your prints, please indicate the numbers to be tabbed alone without our address labeling process by our inkjet printers.
What file types do you accept?
We would like to receive your artwork files in PDF format whenever you can. Please make sure your PDF files follow the basic rules listed below:
· set for 4 color professional printing mode (CYMK);
· saved at resolution of 300 dpi or higher;
· embedded all fonts.
How do I send in large files?
Our server is limited to 50 MB per file uploading. For larger files, you have to break them up into smaller ones, and then upload them one by one onto our server. As you may know, uploading is much slower than downloading. You may find uploading large files to our server may be too slow.
Following could be better online methods to share your files with us:
- If you have your own ftp server, you may upload your files to your local ftp server, which may be the fastest. Email us your ftp address, login/password, we can download them from your ftp server. Downloading is much faster than uploading. By this way, you will save a considerable amount of time to share your files with us.
- If you don’t have your own ftp server, you may use one of the following large file sharing services. Some of them may be free. Listed are a few of the sites that our customers have used:
www.yousendit.com
www.sharefile.com
www.sendspace.com
www.megaupload.com
After you have uploaded files to one of the above sites, you will be given the option to send us an email with instruction how to download them.
You can always email us the files if they are smaller enough. Burning a CD and mailing it to us by an express courier is always an option, too.
How can I prepare art work properly for perfect binding?
Yes, you can. Please read this practical guide.
How do I estimate the percentage of printing area?
Except the background color that does not need to be printed, all other colors have to be printed. The more area we print, the higher the cost is. For example, you want to print some non-woven fabric bags. You may choose a white fabric, and print a colorful picture that spreads to the whole bag (100% printing area). For other bags, you may just print one line that displays your company name and logo (less than 1/4 of the bag surface area). The percentage of printing area depends on your graphic design. To your best knowledge, please estimate the percentage of the area that will be covered by printing ink.
How do I know the number of colors of my graphic design?
A 4-color offset press only needs four colors of inks (CYMK, cyan, yellow, magenta and black) to make any colorful images on paper. The four colors could be overlaid (combined) on a paper to produce any colors. However, printing on other materials such as non-woven fabric and plastic films needs special printing techniques. A color design on a non-woven fabric bag or a flexible packaging pouch often requires more than 4 colors of inks to print. The exact number of colors is difficult to estimate for a layman.
However, for our quoting purpose, you only need to tell us 1, 2 or more colors of your graphic design excluding the background color of the surface. For example, you want to print an American flag on your purple fabric. The American flag has three colors: white, red and blue. The number of colors is 3. Then you check the choice of “more colors”.
What are bleeds?
Printing that extends to the edge of a page after trimming. When you design your graphics, make sure leave 3 mm (1/8 inch) to the edges to be trimmed so that no critical image or letters would be lost. Full bleeds leave no margin at edges after trimming, which is often the case in professional photography.
What kind of shopping bags are best suited to my business?
This is an often asked question. Please refer to A Practical Guide to Shopping Bags.
How do I choose a non-woven fabric weight?
The thicker the fabric, the heavier the fabric is. The weight of non-woven fabric is measured in unit of grams per square meter (gsm). For a common shopping bag, you may choose a fabric weight of 70gsm to 80gsm. For a larger one, heavier fabric up to 100gsm or more could be chosen. For a smaller bag, you may choose lighter fabric to save the materials.
What color(s) of non-woven fabric do I choose for my bag?
Unlike a paper bag that has its graphic art normally printed on white paper, a non-woven fabric bag has its graphic art printed on a color background. Each piece of non-woven fabric is born with a uniform background color of red, purple, orange, yellow, cyan, or white … just to name a few. When you design a non-woven fabric bag, you could choose one or multiple background colors. We will choose the most matching colors of the fabric. When multiple background colors are chosen, multiple pieces of non-woven fabric that match the colors have to be sewn together.
Can my non-woven fabric bag have a closure?
Though most of the hand carry bags are open at the top, non-woven fabric bags could be closed by zippers, velco closures, buttons, or other methods as you may imagine. Choose an appropriate type of closure for your non-woven fabric bags, and OooLa Printing will be glad to install them. A proper closure will make more customers to carry your bags.
How is the thickness of plastic film measured?
Just like paper weight is measured, the thickness of plastic films is also measured in two systems: international and English. Most nations use international metric system, and the unit is micron (µ); USA uses English system, and the unit is mil. Here are equations:
1µ = 1/1000th of millimeter; 1 millimeter = 1/1000th of meter
1 mil = 1/1000th of inch
We can convert between them:
1 mil = 25.40µ
1µ = 0.03937 mil
Following is a film thickness conversion chart:
English (mil) |
International (micron, µ) |
|
English
(mil) |
International (micron, µ) |
0.30 |
7.26 |
0.95 |
24.13 |
0.35 |
8.89 |
1.00 |
25.40 |
0.40 |
10.16 |
1.50 |
38.10 |
0.45 |
11.43 |
2.00 |
50.80 |
0.50 |
12.70 |
2.50 |
63.50 |
0.55 |
13.97 |
3.00 |
76.20 |
0.60 |
15.24 |
3.50 |
88.90 |
0.65 |
16.51 |
4.00 |
101.60 |
0.70 |
17.78 |
4.50 |
114.30 |
0.75 |
19.05 |
5.00 |
127.00 |
0.80 |
20.32 |
5.50 |
139.70 |
0.85 |
21.59 |
6.00 |
152.40 |
0.90 |
22.86 |
7.00 |
177.80 |
As a rule of thumb, common grocery shopping bags are 1-1.25 mil PE bags.
